Thursday, August 20, 2009

Victor David Hanson, a classical scholar in addition to being a raisin farmer, giving a classical spin to the health care debate:

In Greek mythology, even Olympian gods and heroes were subject to a higher divine power known loosely as “fate” -- an allotted moira, or destiny, that could not be changed even by thunderbolt-throwing Zeus. In modern America, debt -- whether national, state, or trade -- now plays the same overarching role as the ancient Greek notion of fate. And the president, Congress, and the states for all their various agendas are impotent since they must first pay back trillions that have long ago been borrowed and spent. Politicians in their hubris who believe they can ignore debt or wish it away are sorely disappointed -- as we see now with the plummeting approval ratings of both the administration and Congress. Take the issue of health-care reform proposals, in which the issue of debt looms large. We are told that more people will be insured, costs will go down, and care will not be rationed. But this rhetoric cannot disguise the reality of taking on even more debt.